by Christina Waters | Aug 7, 2015 | Home |
Randall Grahm’s dream for a New World vineyard with spectacularly here and now terroir is already 40% funded, and you can be part of this project! Act fast – only 14 days left.
The ante has been upped on the great Grahm Cru IndieGoGo initiative—your support can now procure a grape named after yourself, or dinner with Randall Grahm and über chef Mario Batali, at Batali’s Babbo in Greenwich Village, or dinner for two at Sally Clarke‘s glam restaurant in London, or dinner for two at Chez Panisse.
Are you ready for this? RG is even offering the eccentric, arguably beautiful one-of-a-kind “spaceship” created by Michael Leeds for the original Bonny Doon Vineyard Tasting Room and restaurant on the Westside.
Find out more about Grahm’s dreams for a vinous future—my cover story in this week’s GTWeekly.
by Christina Waters | Aug 6, 2015 | Home |
Tired of racing all over town the first Friday of each month, only to find out that you missed some great opening because you tried to do a marathon art crawl? Still trying to see everything?
Well, obsess no more.
Here are my top three picks for First Friday in August .
Definitely stop by Sentinel Printers to check out the work of a wildly creative quartet, curated by the feverish forward mind of Mark Shunney’s Art Research Office. Enjoy a mini-feast of new abstract work by co-curator Emily Meehan (see below), game trickster Louise Leong, retro painter Patrick Appleby, and Grant Wells. 6-9pm, Sentinel Printers 912 Cedar St.,downtown Santa Cruz.
Also in the downtown region, check out Stripe‘s new show of moody, vibrant woodcut prints by virtuoso Bridget Henry (shown above). Get there at 5pm and enjoy a swill of wine from Condor’s Hope Vineyards. 107 Walnut Ave, next door to Soif.
And then zoom over to the Westside, and the R. Blitzer Gallery show of major paintings by surfer postmodernist Gary Hughes and marine metaphysician Howard Kaneg. Expect an upbeat reception starting at 5pm. Blitzer Gallery is located at 2801 Mission St (old Wrigley Plant).
by Christina Waters | Jul 30, 2015 | Home |
Sure I’m the last person on the block to see this vehicle for the highly touted talents of apple-cheeked Amy Schumer. But let me be the first to walk away unimpressed.
The film poster (left) is funnier than anything in the film.
The film’s uneven pacing offers oft-witty, but mostly flat cameos. And it’s shockingly laced with NBA promos (even though I’ll admit that LeBron James, playing himself, is a delight). But where it should have tightened up and stayed tough—Schumer is supposed to be a free spirited, unrepentent single career gal who loves sex, booze and drugs—the film caves. She gets all kinds of weepy domestic advice from colleagues and family—especially her sister, played by Brie Larson who steals every scene she’s in from Schumer.
Schumer’s character works for a smut magazine whose editor is a shrill Tilda Swinton, playing the crude soulless boss, aiming for the bracing tone of Ab Fab‘s hilarious Joanna Lumley, “sweetie baby.” But even the great Swinton fails to pump energy into this mis-directed pastiche.
On assignment to write a behind the scenes article about a sports medicine specialist, played by Bill Hader, Schumer finds herself getting interested in the doctor for more than just a quickie. Fine. Sex in the City. Seinfeld. SNL. Meg Ryan. Tina Fey. Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle. Joan Rivers for God’s sakes! We’ve seen this before. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Jul 30, 2015 | Home |
Here’s a sneak peek of my review of The Liar—the entire piece is in this week’s GTWeekly.Â
Santa Cruz Shakespeare‘s nimble new production of The Liar is the sort of searing live comedy that blows all things digital right off the map. Every single actor in this splendid production is remarkable. That needs repeating. Each and every actor adds sparkle. Nothing interferes. There is no down time. There are none of those, er, moments where you look at your cell phone and wonder how much longer the play will go on.
Romping through a very brisk 2 1/2 hours, the entire ensemble ran away with the opening night audience. Not since Richard Ziman’s Falstaff have I laughed so hard. Director Art Manke—whose Bach at Leipzig remains one of my fondest theater memories—took an exceptional cast and set it on fire. You always know what’s going on and every minute of it is delicious. Strap yourself in. The Liar is a triumph—a show smart enough to disarm skeptics and sexy enough to delight audiences in need of pre-Candy Crush fun.
by Christina Waters | Jul 29, 2015 | Home |
It’s hard to believe that Karen Sinsheimer is gone, so fierce was her energy and passion. In all things really, but especially for the arts.
I can still see her and Audrey taking meetings, using their influence, cooking up an official Shakespeare Festival site, something that would remain as a legacy for great theatrical productions in the future. Such irony, isn’t it? That not only is the Festival she helped to co-found no longer associated with UCSC, but the very Festival Glen named for her and actress/director/professor Audrey Stanley—the Glen itself will be gone as a Shakespeare venue after one more month of performances.
Karen was a larger-than-life beauty, whose graciousness was genuine. She was comfortable about the choices she’d made, and she made everyone around her feel the same way. Her passing sadly underscores the changes that have come to the beautiful redwood glen she loved and protected for so long.
It was a rare pleasure to have known her. [photo: Kimberly Kavish]
